A Harvard psychologist says your success in any situation hinges on 3 things

Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy is perhaps best known as the
creator of the "power pose."

As she described in her 2012
TED Talk,
power-posing is about taking advantage of the body-mind
connection: You adopt the body language of powerful people so
that you feel and act more confident.

But power posing is just one path to a state of calm
self-confidence that will help you succeed in challenging
situations. That state, which Cuddy calls "presence," is the
subject of her
new book by the same name.

Cuddy defines presence as being attuned to and able to express
your full potential. When you're present, you approach challenges
without a sense of threat.

Whether you're interviewing for a job or pitching your startup,
people can tell right away if you're present, and they judge
you more positively when you are.

In an interview with Business Insider, Cuddy said there are three
things people see when you're present:

1. You believe your story

When you're present, you demonstrate conviction and passion so
that other people come to believe your story, too.

In the book, Cuddy describes a yet-unpublished study she
conducted, in which participants went through mock interviews.
For five minutes, they had to persuade the interviewer that they
were the best person for the job, while being completely honest.
All the while, the interviewer held a completely neutral
expression.

Three independent pairs of judges watched videos of the
interviews, looking for presence, believability, and hireability.
Sure enough, the interviewees who were rated more present were
also rated more believable and more hireable.

Cuddy writes: "Presence mattered to the judges because it
signaled authenticity, believability, and genuineness; it told
the judges that they could trust the person, that what they were
observing was real."

2. You're confident without being arrogant

In the book, Cuddy quotes a venture capitalist describing what
turns him off during an entrepreneur's pitch: "They're too high
energy and aggressive, maybe a little pushy. It seems defensive,
I don't expect them to have all the answers. Actually, I don't
want them to have all the answers."

Being open to feedback is key, Cuddy told Business Insider. The
more you shut down other people and their perspectives, the less
appealing you become. That's because it can seem like you're
trying to cover up a sense of uncertainty.

"A truly confident person does not require arrogance, which is
nothing more than a smoke screen for insecurity," Cuddy writes.
"A confident person can be present to others, hear their
perspectives, and integrate those views in ways that create value
for everyone."

3. Your verbal and nonverbal communication is in sync

When we're being inauthentic — or when we're intentionally
deceiving someone — Cuddy said our verbal and nonverbal
communication is incongruent.

In the book, she explains that's because you're constantly trying
to adjust what you're saying and doing to create the impression
you think others want to see.

On the other hand, when we're present, our verbal and nonverbal
behavior matches. People aren't distracted trying to figure out
why something feels "off," and they're more likely to put their
trust in you.

Ultimately, if you're confident in yourself, other people will be
more likely to be confident in you, too.
It doesn't necessarily mean you'll get the job or the
investor's money, but you'll walk away knowing that you did the
best you could — and the right opportunity for you is out there.